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Unknown masterpieces by artists such as Marc Chagall and Henri
Matisse, works thought lost to the ravages of war and others deemed
"degenerate" or looted by the Nazis form part of the spectacular trove of art discovered by German authorities in the apartment of an elderly recluse in Munich.

Two days after news of
the find broke, officials in southern Germany revealed Tuesday that the
hoard contains 1,406 pieces by masters whose names read like a who's who
of Western art of the last 150 years: Pablo Picasso, Pierre-Auguste
Renoir, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Gustave Courbet, Oskar Kokoschka, Emil
Nolde.

But the authorities seem unsure what they'll do with the paintings:

Since word of the cache emerged, advocates of returning art looted
during the war have criticized German officials for keeping quiet so
long and for failing to issue an inventory as quickly as possible to
allow heirs of the original owners to reclaim what was stolen.

Nemetz [the state prosecutor] said that keeping the works safe was crucial and that their
security could have been compromised by a media frenzy surrounding news
of their discovery. He does not intend to exhibit or publish images of
the entire stash, and it will be up to people who believe that a former
family possession might be included to contact his office.

"Our primary goal is to investigate whether there has been a crime,"
Nemetz said. "It is by no means easy to find the rightful owners,
particularly when we are talking about more than 1,400 paintings."

He added: "It is totally counterproductive for us to go public with
this case. We don't want to keep the pictures. The pictures are not
going to be put up in my office."